The present invention relates to a camera, particularly to a camera having an improved mechanism for holding a film cartridge.
FIG. 2 shows the constitution of a conventional camera in which a front cover 1 covers the front of the main body 3 of the camera, and a rear cover 2 covers the rear of the main body 3 and can be closed and opened optionally to and from the front cover 1. A light blocking tube 31 shaped nearly as a truncated quadrangular pyramid constitutes the central portion of the main body 3 so that light other than that entering through a lens (not shown in FIG. 2) is blocked from reaching a film 7. The main body 3 has a portion 32 with nearly L-shaped cross section, located at the right of the light blocking tube 31, which defines a film cartridge chamber 8 which houses film cartridge 6. The main body 3 also has a portion 33 with nealy U-shaped cross section, located at the left of the light blocking tube 31, which defines a spool chamber 9 which houses a spool 5 for winding the film 7. A plate spring 4 is secured to the portion 32 by a screw 10 to put pressure on the film cartridge 6 thereby to prevent the film cartridge 6 from moving when the film cartridge 6 is placed in the cartridge chamber 8 to feed the film 7 automatically.
To load the camera, the rear cover 2 is opened, the film cartridge 6 is inserted in the film cartridge chamber 8, the film is pulled out slightly from the cartridge and engaged at the side edge holes of the film with a sprocket (not shown in FIG. 2), and then the rear cover is closed. The film 7 is then wound automatically by a prescribed length on the spool 5 as a motor (not shown in FIG. 2) is driven. In camera of this construction, the spring 4 prevents the film cartridge from moving during the automatic film winding, so that the film is fed properly.
However, since the plate spring 4 is secured to the nearly L-shaped portion 32 by the screw 10 in the conventional camera, the number of parts of the camera and the number of steps of assembling the camera are large, thereby making the cost thereof high. This is a problem.
The present device was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances. In view of the foregoing, it is an object and feature of this invention to provide a camera, in which the number of parts of the camera and the number of steps to assemble the camera are decreased, thereby reducing the cost of the camera.